Large Scale Central

Wire Ferrules & Crimper

Tools and Tips
#1

I’m old school and I’ve been tinning wire ends when inserting stranded wire into screw terminals of any type for ever. This takes time, but it keeps things neat.

Recently, Ive been working on the solar charging system in my travel trailer. Tinning 8AWG wire is not something I’d attempt with the tools I have. The research I did on solar controllers introduced me to wire ferrules and associated crimp tools. This is really a game changer.

When I went shopping for tools I learned that there are Square or Hex crimpers. Hex for insertion in round terminals and square for rectangular ones. I purchased an inexpensive square crimper that came with an assortment of ferrules, but not as many in this kit…

FerruleCrimpTool
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I crimped uninsulated ferrules on the 10AWG wires I removed from my old solar controller a covered with heat shrink…

10AWGCrimp
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And these are insulated ferrules on 8AWG wire…

08AWGCrimp
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The kit I have goes down to 22AWG. These might come in handy the next time I work on a loco!

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#2

Nice. I need to get one of these that will go up to 6ga wire for our RV upgrades, but I havent gone looking yet.

#3

Harder to find as the wire size gos up. I needed 8AWG and that’s the max on these. I would have bought Klien but they only went to 10AWG.

Once you get much bigger than 8 you are probably looking at lugs. Crimpers for those are huge and pricey!

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#4

Yea I have a big crimper for battery cables and all. But I need to put ferrules on the 6/4 wire for the 50a/120v side of things. $$$$ to find.

#5

Nice set, Jon. I had to get one a couple years back for a work project that had lots of stranded wire connections, it really helped clean things up.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XBLGPCY

#6

I would love to see a picture of what BD and Jon are talking about in relation to the campers. I understand the wire gauge along with the ferrules and lugs part but looking for an application and relation to my mental image.

Yes, I still love a good pop up book …my favorite is still Grover and the monster at the end of the book!

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#7

I dont have a picture, because most of the stuff is still in boxes.

But, my camper right now has two 100ah lead-acid batteries, and a single solar panel. It does not currently have an inverter to make 120v from the batteries. Even if it did, lead-acid batteries are only good for a 50% discharge and inverters running your 120v stuff (AC and microwave) uses a lot of power.

What I have ready to go in as soon as the weather cooperates, is 800ah of LiFePo4 batteries, and two 3000 watt inverter/chargers. LiFePo4 batteries can be discharged about 98%, so I’m gaining a TON of capacity, plus the ability to run AC for several hours on battery alone.

For wires, the wire from the batteries to the inverters will be 0000 cable (about as big as your thumb), and the 120v side needs to be 6/4 wire since it’s 50 amp service to the breaker panel.

I’m also adding three solar controllers (one for the existing panel, two for new panels) and a bunch of other monitoring and control electronics, which may need various wire sizes.

#8

My reason for purchase was to install this to replace the basic solar charger that came with the camper…

LiTime 30A Solar Charge controller
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My camper came with 400 Watts of solar and one sealed lead acid battery. I sold the SLA plus one from my trade and got two 100Ah LiFePo4 batteries and a shunt battery monitor. The solar control that came with is a basic cheap one. I’m upgrading to the above more efficient one. The new one is too big for where the old one went, so I’m adding cut-off breakers and extending the 10AWG wires from the PVA and to the Battery with 8AWG wire. This is the cut-off installed…

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As of yet I have no inverter. Until I can afford to do what Bob is doing, I’ll end up with a small one just to run the TV and a CPAP. I have a real small (300 watt) inverter now for the CPAP that has a DC plug by the bed.

We have a 12V refrigerator and lots of 12V lighting and a big 12V fan. When it’s summer in the Northeast, I need hook ups!

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#9

As we are on wiring issues, does anyone have a favourite plug and receptacle setup for various railroad connections?

#10

Though I didn’t use ferrules on solid wire (I’m not sure why one would, unless you needed to increase the diameter for screw engagement?), they sure helped me out with stranded wire for the Sutro site model in 2023.

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#11

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Are these sort of connectors good for track power etc?

#12

apart from the fact, that they are not from copper, yes.
they should be good enough for 24V (or even more)

#13

Kits are nice to start with if wiring connectors are new to you, but for myself I find that I only used 5-6 connectors for most of my projects where I might use them. I would say, a nicely equipped kit from eBay will get you off to a good start for most electrical projects. Try to find a kit that has more of the smaller size connectors and model railroading uses mostly gauges of #14 or larger size wire for their projects.

#14

i have not the slightest idea about sizes and numbers.
i just buy the brass connectors for vehicle electric.
where multiple cables are to be joined the loop type, for one-on-one the shoes and flats.
(the later are best to be pushed between tie-web and rail)

#15

What an awesome idea. Around here we call those spade lugs, but yes!

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#16

well, i’ll try to remember that.
the thing is, i “invented” the names.
because i ignore(d) the names in each and every language i speak.
i just went to the hardware store, asked about connecting pieces for car cables.
from the tray i was shown, i sad two dozens each from these, those and that sort.

and before this thread i didn’t know there exist special pliers for crimping.

i just press the cable into the connector with a soldering iron, push a bit solder-wire to it and have a connection for decades.

here end the southern & gulf hillbilly news.

#17

Yes Bill, but use the ratchet crimper. Really hard to get enough compression for a long lasting joint with ‘normal’ ones. (12 + yrs on tools in the trade - seen a lot of failures).

Cheers
N

#18

Do you have a brand/model to recommend?

#19

The small round crimp connectors are exactly the right size for the bolt on Split Jaw connectors.

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#20

Yep. For outdoor, that is the way to go. I have repurposed broken Hillman clamps as power taps using ring terminals like that. My track carries constant 12V for lighting.

But, for a quick tap on the indoor, shoving the flat under the rail at a tie is a cool idea too. Outdoors it would probably fail after a while die to moisture carrying dirt into the contact area.

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